Before UFC 162 fight with 'Zombie' pulled, Ricardo Lamas hoped to be more vocal

It was only a month ago that Lamas was thinking about the virtues of “The Korean Zombie,” and, for lack of a better way to put it, the reasons why the UFC might like Chan Sung Jung just a little more than him.

Of course, at that time, Lamas (13-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) was booked to fight Jung (13-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC) at UFC 162 just two weeks from now. Then the bottom dropped out.

A little more than a week ago, Jung was pulled from the fight – which likely would have determined the next challenger UFC’s featherweight title. He took his three-fight win streak and jumped right into a title fight against Jose Aldo at UFC 163 in August when Anthony Pettis had to pull out with a knee injury.

It’s the kind of thing that just happens in MMA, but it may have seemed especially cruel to Lamas, who is 4-0 since dropping to 145 pounds, since it was Pettis who leapfrogged him in February by texting UFC President Dana White to ask for a chance to drop down from his No. 1 contender spot at lightweight to challenge Aldo at featherweight.

But in some ways, even if Lamas couldn’t see that coming, just three weeks before he was supposed to fight the “Zombie” on July 6 at UFC 162 in Las Vegas, he seemed to understand the UFC’s fascination with Jung. Before the UFC dissolved World Extreme Cagefighting and brought many of the WEC’s fighters – “Bully” Lamas and Jung included – into its ranks, White had been known to wear a “Korean Zombie” t-shirt.

“I think it’s just because of his style,” Lamas said this past month at UFC 160 in Las Vegas. “He always puts on exciting fights, he’s always going forward, he’s always looking for a knockout. After his fight with Leonard Garcia (in his WEC debut), he kind of blew up. But I’m going to try to change Dana’s mind after this fight and maybe get him to wear a ‘Bully’ t-shirt.”

Lamas currently is ranked No. 3 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie.com MMA featherweight rankings. Aldo, of course, is No. 1, while Jung currently is No. 6.

Now a Lamas-Jung fight only is likely to take place in the near future if the “Zombie” pulls an upset in Aldo’s home country of Brazil, where he currently checks in as nearly a 7-to-1 favorite in the fight.

Lamas this past week was officially pulled from UFC 162 without a suitable opponent found for him on short notice. Two days after the news broke, White told MMAjunkie.com in Winnipeg following UFC 161 that Lamas would be paid his show money for the fight. White also said he knows Lamas was upset for being passed over by Jung, who hasn’t fought since a May 2012 win over Dustin Poirier due to injuries.

Lamas had been doing his best to focus in on Jung. He had moved on from the disappointment of being passed up by Pettis and was tuned in on a matchup with a fighter who in five Zuffa bouts has won five bonuses, including a double for his submission of Poirier.

“At this point, I’m not thinking about (a title shot),” Lamas said a month ago. “‘The Korean Zombie is not someone you want to look past. So I’m going to concentrate on him right now and worry about what happens after the fight.”

Lamas wasn’t thinking about a title shot – but when his opponent is pulled to have one instead of him, it had to drive home that he was one of two possibilities, and again he came in second. And that forces him, most likely, to think about title shots.

White told MMAjunkie.com in Winnipeg that he told Lamas his time will come – that he’s in a position not unlike fighters like Johny Hendricks, who recently was asked to wait for a title shot, even though he believed he was the No. 1 contender. Hendricks had to watch as Nick Diaz returned from a yearlong suspension – following a loss, no less – to get a shot at welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre in March. Hendricks had to risk his spot in line on the same night and beat Carlos Condit. Now Hendricks will finally fight for the belt in November.

So there certainly is some precedent for these types of situations that Lamas can take some comfort in. But when reminded that sometimes, fights – especially title fights – are made on a little more than just wins and losses, Lamas said he was hopeful that in his case, it would could down to just that.

“I’ll try (to talk more, but) I’m not the type of guy who’s going to go out there and talk trash and make up all these fabricated beefs with my opponent,” Lamas told MMAjunkie.com. “Hopefully they’ll see the results through my fights and give me credit for that.

“In the past, I’ve been very reserved, very quiet and soft spoken. And I think I need to speak up for myself a little more now and let people know what I want. I think that’s going to make a major difference.”

It remains to be seen if Lamas will take another fight in the meantime. Aldo and Jung fight in six weeks. If Lamas was given the winner of that championship and had to wait four months, he would go nearly a year without a fight.

But if his words a month ago are any indication, regardless of what the eventual fallout is from the scrapping of his fight with “Zombie,” the MMA world might very well see a new and more vocal “Bully.”

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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